Weird Fuzzrite

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edkoppel
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Weird Fuzzrite

Post by edkoppel »

What do you guys make of this "Fuzzrite" that tcgakki just posted on their IG?

Weird paint finish that's closer to the Japanese Mirano Exciting Fuzz than any Fuzzrite I've seen before.

But who knows! :hmm:

Unfortunately there's no gut pics.
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devnulljp
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by devnulljp »

Someone silk-screened new lettering on an old rusted enclosure maybe? No way the original lettering would have survived that amount of corrosion, and I've never seen that kind of fuzzy bleed before. Almost looks like sharpie. None of my Ge originals ever had the (R) either.
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edkoppel
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by edkoppel »

Right! It looks like someone repainted the enclosure and then poorly silkscreened new print.

I'm just wondering the alternative, which is that it's some kind of 70s Japanese copy..?
Oh, DB? That's just slang for Dandy Big muff collector.
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edkoppel
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by edkoppel »

Well I kinda got a gutshot from him, he says it's silicon.
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Nick
The Artist Formerly Known As nightraven
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by Nick »

This particular pedal has been floating around in Japan for a lot longer. The first time I saw it was on this blog from 2015: http://smash-hits.jugem.jp/?eid=284

I'm not inclined towards it being repainted and printed, because the graphics actually look correct for a silicon Fuzzrite like this. The print is wayyy heavier than I've seen before on Fuzzrites, but maybe there's a logical explanation that relates to the weird crinkle paint.

Everything else about the pedal is consistent with a very early silicon-transistor Fuzzrite: 'transitional' short knobs, eyelet board construction & 6806 pot codes. I think the paintjob could very well be a weird Mosrite anomaly, or a very short-lived version of the Fuzzrite that we just haven't seen any other examples of yet.

devnulljp wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 5:14 pmNone of my Ge originals ever had the (R) either.
Mosrite updated the graphics with the '(R)' symbol in 1967. It was around about when they also started using the footswitches with the black plastic buttons, and the .05µF (and sometimes .047µF) caps, but still on the bigger piece of phenolic board.
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devnulljp
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by devnulljp »

Well spotted.
Still, none of my Si FRs ever had fuzzy writing like that either, so something weird for sure.
Here's a shot of the Si transistors from your blog
Image
Image
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Nick
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by Nick »

I think the fuzziness of the print might be a result of it having been applied to the bumpy wrinkle paint surface, instead of the bare brushed steel.

The Mirano pedals look kinda similar:

Image
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edkoppel
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by edkoppel »

Nick wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 4:08 pm I think the fuzziness of the print might be a result of it having been applied to the bumpy wrinkle paint surface, instead of the bare brushed steel.

The Mirano pedals look kinda similar:
Yeah I was thinking the same thing about the Mirano pedals too. Which is what led me to think it possibly was at least repainted in Japan at some point in the 70s?
But either way it's a pretty cool anomaly.
Oh, DB? That's just slang for Dandy Big muff collector.
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Nick
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by Nick »

edkoppel wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 5:15 pmYeah I was thinking the same thing about the Mirano pedals too. Which is what led me to think it possibly was at least repainted in Japan at some point in the 70s?
But either way it's a pretty cool anomaly.
I'm not clear on how someone other than Mosrite would have (re-)created the graphics so well... only to allow the pedal to deteriorate to an ugly mess once again.

There was apparently a run of PCB Fuzzrites sold in Japan at some point a lot more recently in history than the late 1960s. I haven't looked into it at all (due to language barrier + general uninterest in non-1960s fuzz :badteeth: ) but it's perhaps a clue that Fuzzrite enclosures were still being printed post-bankruptcy. Unless, of course, those enclosures were part of the infamous 'NOS' stash. I've been calling these PCB pedals the 'Japanese flagrites', because they always surface in Japan, and because they always have that tacky USA flag stickered on.

I'm very reluctant to jump to conclusions about a possible link with this 'wrinklerite' and the 'flagrites' without more information. After all, Mosrite has always been popular over in Japan for some reason.

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freddy_von
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Re: Weird Fuzzrite

Post by freddy_von »

I knew I’d seen that one somewhere before.
Looked back through my photos of a trip to Japan in 2019 and there it was.
I remember thinking it seemed a lot of money for what I assumed was a knock-off Fuzzrite.
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